Siya sobha nahin jai bakhani
Chaupai 1, Under Doha 247 · Bal Kand
Chaupai Text
सिय सोभा नहिं जाइ बखानी। जगदंबिका रूप गुन खानी॥ उपमा सकल मोहि लघु लागीं। प्राकृत नारि अंग अनुरागीं॥ १ ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
siya sobhā nahiṃ jāi bakhānī। jagadambikā rūpa guna khānī॥ upamā sakala mohi laghu lāgīṃ। prākṛta nāri aṅga anurāgīṃ॥ 1 ॥
Meaning
Janaki, the Mother of the universe, is a treasury of form and virtue, and her splendor cannot be described. All comparisons seem trivial to me, for they belong to ordinary worldly women and their bodily features. To use such worldly images for Rama’s own divine power would be to dishonor her and make oneself ridiculous.
Context
This is Chaupai 1, Under Doha 247 from Bal Kand, in the episode “Vishvamitra Enters the Assembly”. The episode describes Vishvamitra entering the great assembly with Rama and Lakshmana, each beholder seeing the princes according to their own devotion.